Fate:Roses and Thorns
by demosx
Summary: There are many fates a man can face, but when all the worst cards have been draw; how can he strive for his ideals? Slightly inspired by Fate/Strange Fake


Hello there! Demosx here.

After months of Bull- Life, My co writer and I _Finally_ had a time to relax and enjoy a couple movies. One of them really left us thinking:

You Were Never Really Here, a movie about a man with Severe mental traumas trying to deal with his life; who also dismantles child prostitution rings by killing all the bad guys with a hammer.

Just a Stray Cat (Co-Writer): As a side note, the popularity of hammers highly increased after the movie came out, like, what the fuck people?

So yeah, THAT got our attention, and when he said something along the lines of "broken man" and "justice by your own hands", my mind immediately went to Shirou.

I joked about a "Hammer wielding Shirou", we both fell silent, and we started throwing ideas back and forth.

And a month later (Today) I finally decided to sit down and write something for it, so here we are, Enjoy!

We don't own anything from the Fate franchise; it belongs to Type-Moon and Kinoko Nasu.

The cover artwork is from the 2005 game Fahrenheit, which we obviously don't own either

* * *

Fuyuki City. January 23. 10:35 pm.

It was a beautiful night, one could say.

Along the shadows of the houses of the residential area of Miyama Town, two figures were steadily moving parallel to the road, at times stopping and then hurrying to catch up.

Further ahead of them walked a man of around forty years old. He had a brown short hair hidden by a dark brown hat, and wore a big beige coat. The man was speaking on the phone. Too far to hear the device, the two stalkers could only hear half of the conversation.

"…Yeah, I have it…" he said in a serious, flat voice.

The man stopped seemingly pondering about something, and put his hand to his chin.

"No witness. We were careful." The two figures inched closer.

"No cameras. The family was out. Only one dog; dead" He answered into the phone.

As they approached, the two stalkers got dangerously close to the light of a street lamp, since there was no other path that wouldn't mean losing sight of the coated man.

With the slight illumination, one could, although vaguely; discern their shapes. One was rigid and slightly muscular; a man. The other one was shorter, with generous curves that accentuated its body; a woman.

"Central Park? Two Hours. Understood." With the last word, he closed his phone and put it inside the pocket of his coat.

At the same time, the man hiding in the shadows reached for something on his back: A long bow. Quickly, he pulled an arrow from the quiver by his hip. Its tip was round, clearly meant for practice and non-lethal combat.

As he tensed the bow, there was a whisper.

"Trace ON."

Instants later, the reinforced arrow had cleanly pierced the coated man's heart, a clean shot; the man did not feel a thing, merciful considering what he did in life.

After the man slumped to the ground, a pool of blood slowly started to form, both figures approached the corpse; the man walked quickly but rigidly, the woman skipped every-other step, while humming a cheerful tone.

The woman looked at the man expectantly as he removed the coat and hat from the dead man, after which he gave her a nod, to which she gave him a very happy face.

The man watched as her shadow quickly darkened, becoming a pitch-black indistinguishable from the night itself.

The shadow expanded, and slowly surrounded the corpse; after which it started to sink, as if he was in mud or quicksand.

As the body completely disappeared, the man watched the small lock of her hair that was now pure white, as it returned to the lilac of the rest of her hair.

Once her shadow returned to its normal appearance, she turned to him and gave him a smile that both warmed his heart, and chilled him to the bone.

"Thanks for the food, Senpai~~"

* * *

Fuyuki Central Park was a very grey landscape. It was intended as a memorial in honor of the catastrophe that occurred there 10 years prior. However, that was a futile attempt; as grudges were so deeply engraved in that place, that normal people evaded it even on a subconscious level.

In this place usually devoid of life, a man sat on a bench. A beige coat covered his body, and the brown hat that barely covered his red hair.

As he waited for the meeting that was meant for someone else, he tensely stared at the silent landscape. The darkness of the night made it even eerier than in daytime; however this wasn't registered by the man, since right now; he could see it all very well.

Since everything around him was glowing orange red. The ruined buildings crumbling. The agonizing screams of the dying. And up above, the cursed darkness responsible for it all…

Hearing the sound of footsteps, the man snapped his eyes open. He was sitting on the same bench, in the same dark park. No flames, no death, and certainly; no savior crying for him.

He rose to his feet, and as the other man came close, he could see that he was wearing a greenish-grey coat with matching hat; similar to what he was now wearing. His hair was grey from age, but his complexion was rather bulky.

"Show me" the newcomer said. Reaching into the borrowed coat`s pocket, the man pulled a golden necklace, with three small blue jewels on it.

As the muscular man reached to grab the object, the other pulled it back, and spoke in a flat voice.

"Before that, there are some things I want to talk with you" as he spoke, the man in green caught a glimpse of his amber eyes, which combined with the voice that sounded far from what he expected from the other, was enough to send alarms through his head.

He tried to reach for the pistol hidden inside his coat, but he soon found himself pinned to the ground.

The red haired man was still standing in front of him, so he looked back to see who had restrained him; only to pale in horror.

Gripping his hand behind his back with almost enough force to dislocate it was a purple haired girl. However, there was something unknown yet disturbing in her calm eyes and gentle smile, which shook him to the core.

"Listen here, Mr. Turf Leader" the golden eyes bored holes through him. "I am _Sick_ of the lot of you, constantly robbing and endangering the innocent" He crouched in front of him, to stare at him closely. The man on the ground had no idea where he got it from, but the redhead now had a long knife in his hand.

"It took us two months, but we were finally able to track down a thug that reported directly to you" he said as he pulled on the coat, pointing the knife to a blood stain on it; insinuating where it had come from.

"For two, whole, FUCKING months I've had to hold back on bringing you to justice; since I had to lay low to find you." Suddenly, the crouched man stabbed the ground with great force, less than a centimeter away from his throat "So naturally, right now I am _VERY_ pissed off" The man shook under the redhead`s cold glare.

"But I can't just kill you" he said in a less hostile tone, as he stood up. "That would mean all the petty thieves you control would likely do stupid things without a leash" he sat back at the bench "We could hunt them as they appear, that would be easy. But I would rather not needlessly cause indirect harm to the innocent." He glared at the man on the floor again.

"So here's what we're going to do. _I_ am letting you go."

"What!?" The old voice of the man on the ground, and the yell from the girl restraining him was heard at the same time. "But Senpai-!" the girl was cut short as he continued.

"And _YOU_ will tell your henchmen to stay put and be nice, or have their _FUCKING HEADS_ rolling off to your doorstep." He leaned forwards, and rested his hands on his knees "And I won't be nice enough to _not_ skin you alive twice in a row. Am. I. Clear?"

After a series of feverish nods from the older man, the younger one waved his hand to the girl. She pouted, but stood off from the man, and backed off by a step.

Once free, the turf leader ran into the night, desperate to run away from the scariest teenager-looking man he had ever seen.

"Senpai!" She exclaimed in a disappointed tone. "Why did you let him go?"

"It's just as I said, Sakura" taking off the coat and hat revealed his usual jeans, with a white and blue shirt. "It's better if we have him keep an eye on the thugs we don't know about, instead of wasting energy tracking all of them and risking another crime happening before that."

"Well, I suppose we can always catch him again easily now that we know who he is" she said half-heartedly. As they started to walk, she spoke again "At least that means that if anyone does something now, they can't complaint; even if I bring them back to the worm pit with me." At that moment, the wide smile on her face could only be described as evil.

At that, the amber-eyed man internally – and visually- cringed, as the guilt over his once and present failure weighing down on him. Fortunately, he lagged a couple steps back, so that she couldn't see his face.

_If she sees me feeling bad about it, she will insist that it's alright, that it's not my fault; which would only make both of us feel worse._ Sighing a deep breath, he quickened his pace to walk side by side with her.

_I will free you Sakura. That I swear_. He thought. _That Fucking Worm_ _won't have you much longer…_

* * *

They were entering an old Japanese-styled residence. It was the home of the red haired man, Emiya Shirou.

As they entered, Sakura went to the kitchen to brew tea for both of them.

Aided by the hot beverage, their bodies let go of the exhaustion of the day. As Shirou had said, it had been a couple of stressful months, with many sleepless nights spent stalking various thugs and thieves, while searching for information about their leader.

But now that had been hopefully dealt with, he could allow himself to relax and get a good rest, at least for today.

Feeling the soreness of his tired body, the redhead shifted off the cushion, and laid down on the floor.

Meanwhile, Sakura –who had sat down next to him- simply opted to keep drinking her tea, albeit she inched closer so that she could caress her senpai´s hair.

They spent a comfortable time like that, enjoying the atmosphere of his –dare she dream, _their_\- home, until Sakura finished her tea, and moved her face closer to Shirou`s face.

"Umm… Senpai…" she started in a low voice, not fully making eye contact with him.

"Yes Sakura? What's the matter?" He said, turning his head to fully look at her.

"Well, it's been a while… and we haven't had time because of the patrols…" Her face deeply reddened as she spoke. "So I was wondering, if tonight… we could…" She was practically whispering at this point, while looking to the floor.

It took him a second to process what he heard "Oh. OH." He said in a calm tone, and he sat back up straight.

As he opened his mouth to answer, she looked back at his face and hurried to speak again "No, no senpai, I'm sorry. What am I saying, at a moment like this? We just got back to the house and you're tired and, and…" She hung her head again, and after a couple of soft sobs, she whispered "…Sorry for being such a shameful woman, Senpai"

"Hey, hey!" he hurriedly move towards her and hugged her. "It's okay, calm down" he told her in a calm tone. As she looked back up to him, his face softened; and he gave her a gentle smile. "It's okay, it's not your fault, nor are you shameful" he whispered to her, as he caressed her hair.

He ended their hug –which earned a cute, sad sound from her- "Okay, let's go to my room"

"Senpai!" her smile was like no other she had shown today. Not full of playful malice, or psychotic evil. Just pure and raw happiness.

This wasn't the broken girl the Matou family had made their heir, nor the living magical experiment that that despicable existence wanted her to be.

No, the only person she was right now was Sakura, his friend and companion, which he deeply cared for.

Looking at that joyful smile, he allowed himself to do the same, if only a little. Taking her hand, they made their way towards his room.

He was the last to enter, and closed the sliding door behind him.

Once inside, she looked back at him over her shoulder, a deep blush on her face. After heaving a sight to steady herself, she began to take off her clothes, starting by her pink cardigan.

Seen this, Shirou retrieved one futon, and prepared it in the middle of the room. Methodically removing his own clothes, and setting them aside; he undressed until only his underwear was left.

Turning around, he could see she was the same; with her white bra and panties exposed. With a still blushing face, she shyly half-looked at him with expectation. Her spotless and soft skin seemed inviting, and her generous curves gave her an irresistible charm.

Seen him speechless, she relaxed, and gave a small giggle.

Snapping out of his trance, Shirou closed the distance between them, and gently placed one hand on her cheek, which she pressed against. "Sorry, you are just as beautiful as the first time I saw you"

Planting a soft, short kiss on her pink lips, he put his arms around her, and pulled her into a tight hug. Her body was warm, the soft heat feeling wonderful against his skin. His chest felt the warmest, were her big and soft breasts pressed against him through the cloth.

He slowly traced his hands over her, caressing her shoulders, her lower back, and the base of her neck; as she released soft breaths against his neck.

Moving his body back a little without breaking the hug, he started planting kisses on her. Starting with soft pecks on her forehead and cheeks, becoming stronger as he worked his way down her neck and collarbone.

All the while, he moved his hands over her skin; touching her arms, her thighs and her stomach.

While making soft moans, she started to reciprocate his touch, caressing his trained chest and abdominals, and holding onto his strong arms.

"Senpai… Please" her begging words resonated deep within him, but even though all of her excited him beyond measure, he knew he had to keep his composure.

He once again reached for her back, and made quick work of unbuttoning her bra. Removing the fabric from her chest, he was treated to the sight of her gorgeous, naked mounds; and their beautiful pink tips.

Falling speechless once again from the sight of her wonderful body, he only came back at the melody of her laugh.

"You don't need to only stare, senpai…" She whispered into his ear, her voice sweet has honey. With a gulp, he grabbed her supple mounds; which quickly made her heat up even more than before.

Caressing her breasts with his left hand in slow and firm movements, he used his free hand to reach for her thigh, where he quickly moved upwards to meet her lovely backside, which earned him a little yelp, and the a sweat moan from the lilac haired girl.

His right hand sank into the firm flesh as he grabbed onto it, meanwhile accelerating his left hand; drawing circles around her nipple, which he quickly leaned forward to kiss, sending a jolt of pleasure through her.

When he started kissing all around her ample mounds, he felt how her legs weakened; and when he started sucking on her left nipple while rolling the right on his fingers; she had to grab onto him for support.

Sensing this, Shirou gently lowered both of them to the futon, where he laid her down; as he resumed his caresses, now kissing her belly and thighs.

As he drew a hand towards the cloth of her panties, she left a loud moan; after which she blushed crimson, and gave a pleading stare to him.

Giving her a gentle, but longer kiss on the lips; he helped her raise her legs, so that he could remove the last piece of clothing on her body. Sighing a heavy breath in preparation, she relaxed her body.

Grabbing his hand, and putting her other hand on his cheek; she made one last plea "Please… I want you to touch me" and this time, it was her turn to plant a kiss on his lips; although hers was much stronger.

Enveloped in the passion of the deep kiss, he intertwined his fingers with hers.

As they both laid on the futon, he reached with his free hand for her private region. Sliding one finger inside of her, he could feel her moan directly into his mouth. Starting to move his hand, he felt her slightly arching her back.

Releasing their hands, he moved his to her right breast; where he started slightly pinching and rolling her nipple between his fingers.

Quickly increasing the speed of both of his hands, she started feeling wave after wave of pleasure, many of which made her break her passion driven kiss to catch her breath.

However, as Shirou used the chance to move his mouth to her left breast, and very slowly nimble on her nipple; as well as sliding another finger inside of her, the sudden increase of stimulation made her arch her whole body; which only served to push herself against his mouth and hands harder.

With one final increase of speed, Sakura felt the sweet and strong release of her orgasm, as she came with Shirou´s fingers inside of her. And for a second, it seemed to both of them as if the room had been briefly flooded by a bright red light.

After Basking in the pleasure as Shirou continued to devour her breasts; she regained little by little her strength.

Sitting up, she leaned in for a kiss, which he eagerly reciprocated. At the same time, she reached to his waist, to remove his boxers; but his firm hand over hers prevented it.

"But Senpai!" She exclaimed in a meek tone "I want you… _all_ of you…" But as she looked at him with pleading eyes, he met her gaze with a sorrowful one. "You know that we can't..."

Giving a small, frustrated sigh; she opted for the next best thing: going back to that kiss. After all, this situation had already happened, in _all_ of their previous nights together.

As they both got back in the mood, Shirou continued caressing and pleasuring her all through the night.

When they finally fell exhausted in the futon, naked and sweating; they quickly succumbed to the tiredness of their bodies, and fell asleep.

Both of them too distracted to have noticed the red, strange shape that now decorated Sakura`s left hand.

* * *

Well, this wasn't exactly meant as a first chapter, more like a random mid-beginning scene.

I had originally planned to start with a flashback to the domino chain that lead to the differences, but I like how this might turn out.

Also, if you have read our overlord fic (God, it's been half a year already); a lot of stuff has happened, and we are sorry for not updating. This is actually kind of meant to get us fired up again. Wait a little longer and well explain over there.

So, that's it folks! See you later.


End file.
